Sydney Airport, one of the few remaining airports still listed on a stock exchange anywhere in the world, has been snared by the global M&A boom after a group of big investors pounced on its pandemic-stricken share price to lob a $22 billion takeover bid.

The $8.25 per share unsolicited cash offer, made on Friday evening by a consortium of investors that own stakes in other airports – IFM Investors, Queensland superannuation fund QSuper and US-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) – comes as record low interest rates fuel sales of assets such as Telstra’s mobile tower network and Sydney toll road WestConnex.